Every time :fuckyea:

finished mine today :D

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...91388728_n.jpg

sweet,.. what next??

inside of sleeve and cap for the top. then we'll start right side.

by the way,.. did you guy's see my last sitting pics?.. may have slipt under the radar,.. it's back on page 39... lemme now what ya guys think?..thanx !

Nice linework phantom, and in just 90 mins that's crazy! I just bought a t-shirt with almost the same image :lol

Met up with xilley to check out "Yong Mo" His artist from taiwan. I gotta say I'm really impressed with his work. Going to get the outline done in about 2 weeks!

^ are you getting what you told me back than?? on ur back?

anyone got a list of good tattoo artists that specialize in realistic art?

thanx dude !.. next sitting july 1st.

I'll try to post up pics of progress? I wanna make a lil video or something for myself since the artist isn't local. See if I can help him out abit too.

tatty 3rd day after 1st session, getting done at strictly tattoo.
Dedicated to my grampa hence the gap on one side, that is where his name will be going. Going for second session in 2 weeks, Horiryu is going to get as much shading done as I can withstand. he figures another 6-7 hours

Sorry if pic sucks taken with webcam

4 sessions booked with justin ormiston. Just got my ribs traced today to start the drawing, and got a chicken parm at pasta lupino while I was up in whistler. Good day.

I bet Horiryu wishes he didn't have to put a big name in the middle of his koi

He actually didn't resist the idea I told him the name has to go in the middle of my pec, and he said ok

Well of course he did, you're the client :) But artistically, it clashes

His original idea was that the name would be centered on the breast bone. I wasn't a fan of that idea at all

He seemed pretty happy with the idea, Right when I got in he was excited to show me the stencil

Can someone briefly explain the symbolism of koi tattoos??

Thanks.

There are a million different explanations, depending on who you ask. I wouldn't even dare step into that rabbit hole :fuckthatshit:

And BTW lundyt, it wasn't my intention to make you second guess your decision. Sorry about that... I am just more into the art of tattooing, and when I see some potential nice art with a big name in the middle of it, it ruins it for me. But that shouldn't matter to you one bit. While you could have made it a dedication piece without the name, if that's what you want to do, that's all that matters.

@ skinnypupp no bad feelings taken. Where the name goes there's a chrsyanthemum(sp) flower that surrounds it, so the koi is going to swimming under that anyways

One thing that i did find funny/frustrating about strictly was that they are very set in how they want to do certain things, i suppose it is there tradition. When we were talking back and forth there was some resistance to do certain styles I.e anything coming from the back over the shoulder. I understand the artist has done what they have done for a long time but if i was dead set determined to get a piece done a certain way that would've pissed the shit out of me

@raybot
http://www.tattoosymbol.com/articles/koi.html and Symbolic in the Buddhism to represent courage. Humans "swim" through the "ocean of suffering" without fear, just like a fish swims through water.
there are others but this was the general one that I kept seeing

I'd much prefer it that way. The artist knows he can do things well a certain way, and if he can't? You end up with a below par tattoo, and he ends up having a below par tattoo circulating around making him look like less of a quality artist. If I didn't trust an artist when he said "well I don't think it will look right that way" I'd either agree with him or find another artist who's style suits it.

it wasn't so much that he said it wouldn't look right but said like traditionally things coming over the back to the front was more for women or that he tries to avoid the back completely until you get a full back piece. In the end I did take his expertise into consideration

lookin good man !!

here you go,.. i just cut and pasted ,.. too lazy to type it all out..

Koi are considered a manly symbol, especially after it was appropriated by the Boys' Day Festival in Japan. According to legend, the koi climb the waterfall bravely, and if they are caught, they face their death on the cutting board bravely like samuri. Other Japanese meanings include perseverance and strength. In China, it is believed that if the koi succeeded in climbing to "Dragon Gate" on the Yellow River, the koi will be transformed into dragons. Due to this Chinese legend, koi are considered a symbol of advancement and aspiration.

When used in tattoos, especially with running water, the koi is meant to symbolize courage and the ability to attain goals and to overcome life's difficulties. When the koi in the tattoo is shown swimming upstream, it can be used to mean that the tattooee is still struggling with his problem, whereas a koi swimming downstream implies that the tattooee has already overcome his difficulty. In other cases, the koi swimming downstream can represent the season of fall, and the koi swimming upstream can represent the spring